Olympics round-up

Hat-Trick For Wrestler: Saori Yoshida won her third successive Olympic gold to maintain Japan’s dominance of women’s wrestling at London 2012. Yoshida beat Canada’s Tonya Lynn Verbeek 3-0 2-0 in yesterday’s final of the -55kg weight category. Verbeek was looking to add gold to her collection of Olympic silver and bronze medals, but the 34-year-old could not handle Yoshida, who was roared on by a raucous Japanese following at the ExCeL.

Clattenburg To Ref Final: Mark Clattenburg has been chosen by FIFA as the referee for the Olympic men’s final between Brazil and Mexico tomorrow. It will be the most prestigious match so far of the 37-year-old’s refereeing career. Clattenburg’s assistants will be Stephen Child and Simon Beck. Clattenburg, from Gosforth, became a FIFA official in 2006, and has refereed in the Champions League, qualifying games for Euro 2012, and this year’s League Cup final.

Chen Wins Diving Gold: China’s Chen Ruolin was in a class of her own yesterday, defending her women's Olympic 10m platform diving crown in dominating style to claim her second gold medal at the London Games. The Chinese star peeled off five fantastic dives to score 422.30 points and beat her nearest rival by 55.8 points in the most convincing victory in the seven diving events so far at the Aquatics Centre. Australia's Brittany Broben took silver with 366.50 and Pandelela Rinong claimed the bronze with 359.20 to give Malaysia a first ever Olympic diving medal.

Waterpolo Glory For Us: The US beat Spain 8-5 to win the country’s first gold medal in women’s water polo, going one better than they did in Beijing to finally claim the sport’s top prize after 12 years of painful near-misses. Spain, making their Olympic debut in the women’s event, kept up with the pace in the first quarter but were overpowered by a stronger American side from the second quarter and failed to look like a threat again. American goal scoring ace Maggie Steffens, 19, put away five to cement her status as the tournament’s top scorer and a new force to be reckoned with in women’s sport.

Meilutyte... A Hero: Teen swimming sensation Ruta Meilutyte was given a hero’s welcome in Lithuania after arriving from London with the first-ever swimming Olympic gold medal for the Baltic state. A crowd of fans, some holding national flags of yellow, green and red, welcomed the 15-years-old Meilutyte, a champion in the 100m breaststroke, in the central square by the town hall in the capital Vilnius. The supporters cheered “Thank you, Ruta”, as the blonde schoolgirl appeared on stage with the Olympic gold on her neck late Wednesday.

Pistorius Dream Back On: Double amputee Oscar Pistorius’s historic Olympic campaign gained a reprieve yesterday as South Africa were given a place in tomorrow’s 4x400m relay final on appeal. Pistorius, 25, thought his adventure had come to an end when second leg runner Ofentse Mogawane fell on the bend into the home straight after tangling with Kenya’s Vincent Kiilu. However, Kenya were subsequently disqualified, prom-pting South Africa to appeal. South Africa will run as an additional team in lane 9.